1. Field of the Invention:
This invention relates generally to infant feeding aids, and specifically to an apparatus and method for bottle feeding an infant, and for burping the infant subsequent to feeding.
2. Description of the Prior Art:
In early infancy, much of an infant's waking time is spent feeding. It is critical to a child's growth, health, and development that it receive adequate nutrition, particularly during the early stages of its development. Once an infant has been weaned, it derives most of its nutritional intake from baby bottles filled with warm formula. However, infants usually lack the upper body strength and coordination necessary to hold a bottle in a feeding position for extended periods of time. Therefore, the bottle must be held in a position above the infant by the parent or other handler for protracted periods of time.
Bottle holding devices exist, such as the device disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,354,568 entitled Bottle Holder, which are designed to relieve the handler of this chore, but such devices are seriously defective in several regards. First, their stability is dependent in large part upon the weight placed upon the infant's chest--achieving stability at the expense of the infant's comfort. Second, such devices tend to place the bottle out of the infant's reach, an undesirable result, since the manipulation of the bottle during feeding is one important means through which an infant develops upper body strength and coordination.